GLENDALE, Ariz. - They didn't need any advanced analytics to make this call.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly acknowledged Monday that ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw will start opening day April 6 against the San Diego Padres. It will be the fifth consecutive year Kershaw has started the Dodgers' season opener (including last year's early start in Australia).

"We talked about it a few days ago," Mattingly said. "I told him, 'The next time they (reporters) ask me I'm just going to let them ...

GLENDALE, Ariz. – It qualifies as the biggest surprise of the spring so far – seeing Andre Ethier in a Dodgers uniform.

“I wouldn’t say surprised,” said Ethier of being the most unexpected survivor of the Dodgers’ makeover. “But you just see the moves they (the new front office) are making. They’re bringing in their own guys, bringing guys they want and knowing what the situation was with the outfield, you would think (I would be gone). But it just goes ...

PHOENIX – The Dodgers may not have been as interested in Yoan Moncada as was widely reported in recent weeks.

They never made a formal offer to the 19-year-old Cuban infielder, who Monday agreed to sign with the Boston Red Sox for a record-setting $31.5 million bonus and promptly became Baseball America’s 10th-rated prospect. The contract turned out to be worth less than many expected, with rumored figures once approaching $50 million, but Boston will have to pay a 100 percent ...

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Dodgers’ approach to signing free-agent pitchers is beginning to look an awful lot like buying a handful of lottery tickets in hopes of scratching off at least one winner.

Right-hander Dustin McGowan is the latest signee with an extensive injury history. McGowan arrived in camp Monday having agreed to a one-year contract that will pay him the major-league minimum ($507,500) with a $1 million bonus if he makes the Dodgers roster and another $1.5 million in incentives.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Dodgers announced Saturday that right-hander Zack Greinke had received a “lubricating injection” in his right elbow as a precautionary measure against recurring soreness in the joint.

The injection (which he received on Thursday) was characterized as part of Greinke’s “preseason conditioning” and was scheduled to be administered when he arrived in camp. Greinke also received a similar injection of Orthovisc last spring. Orthovisc is a supplement aimed at treating a lack of hyaluronic acid in the synovial ...

A troublesome bullpen was a big factor in the Dodgers’ disappointing performance in the postseason last fall. They didn’t even make it to the opening of spring training without it cropping up as a problem again.

Closer Kenley Jansen – the one certainty in a bullpen largely remade over the winter – will miss the start of the regular season after undergoing surgery on his left foot Tuesday morning to remove a growth from the fifth metatarsal. Jansen will be ...

Former Dodgers star Pedro Guerrero has been hospitalized in the Dominican Republic after apparently suffering from bleeding in his brain.

Multiple reports out of Guerrero's native country indicate he was taken to a hospital in Santo Domingo by his wife Sunday afternoon after losing mobility of his left arm. He was placed in intensive care with symptoms of a possible stroke.

According to the Dodgers' official website, the 58-year-old Guerrero, 58, has regained mobility in his left side and is being evaluated ...

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers are coming out of one of the most turbulent off-seasons in franchise history with regime change in the front office and a 40-man roster that was turned over nearly by half.

But next winter has the potential to be nearly as busy.

Three of the Dodgers’ primary starters on the infield will be in the final year of their contracts this season – second baseman Howie Kendrick, shortstop Jimmy Rollins and third baseman Juan Uribe – with ...

Dodgers minor-leaguers Robert Carson and Theo Alexander have been suspended 50 games each for violating provisions of baseball's minor-league drug treatment and prevention program. The 50-game suspensions, which will begin with the start of the minor-league season in April, indicate a second positive test.

Carson is a 26-year-old left-handed reliever who spent parts of 2012 and 2013 with the New York Mets. He spent last season in the Angels and Dodgers minor-league systems, going a combined 3-8 with a 5.78 ERA. ...

LOS ANGELES - Looking to add depth behind a starting rotation stocked with some injury risk, the Dodgers signed former Baltimore Orioles ace Erik Bedard to a minor-league contract with a non-roster invitation to spring training.

Bedard, 36, was one of the best left-handed starters in the American League during the 2006-07 seasons with the Orioles, going 28-16 with a 3.47 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Traded to the Seattle Mariners for five minor-leaguers (including future All-Star center ...